


Say You'll Be There

by islndgurl777



Series: give michael guerin a friend 2k19 (make that friend maria deluca) [5]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, michael tells his friends about his first kiss with alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-01 13:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18335264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islndgurl777/pseuds/islndgurl777
Summary: “What’s up with you and Michael?” Liz asks, snagging a fry from her plate as she slips into the other side of the booth.“Good afternoon, Maria. So good to see you. How are you today? May I have one of your fries?” Maria says, practicing her best Liz voice. “Hey, Liz. I’m good, happy to see you too. Sure, help yourself!”





	Say You'll Be There

**Author's Note:**

> I am a lot happier with this one than the last; it was much more fun to write. I just had to rewatch the ep tonight to remind myself of some of the details ; )
> 
> Unbeta'd. Title from the Spice Girls.

“What’s up with you and Michael?” Liz asks, snagging a fry from her plate as she slips into the other side of the booth. 

 

“Good afternoon, Maria. So good to see you. How are you today? May I have one of your fries?” Maria says, practicing her best Liz voice. “Hey, Liz. I’m good, happy to see you too. Sure, help yourself!”

 

Liz rolls her eyes as she finishes chewing and swallowing her food. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Hello, hi, missed you, fry? What’s up with you and Michael?” she says, snagging another fry from Maria’s plate.

 

Maria shrugs. “I don’t know. Things are better, and we’ve talked more, but it’s still a little awkward.”

 

“I get it,” Liz says on a sigh. “It was hard for me to be around them too, when I first found out. But it’s been easier, finding out it wasn’t really Isobel. And really considering what I’d have done in the same situation. It’s hard to stay mad at him. Them,” she corrects, shaking her head.

 

A wicked smile spreads across Maria’s face. “Sure. Them.”

 

Liz’s face turns red. “Shut up, you know that’s what I meant.”

 

“How is tall, dark, and broody?”

 

“He’s fine,” Liz says, nonchalant, but a disgustingly gooey mixture of love and lust starts spreading from her. 

 

“Mmhmm. I’m sure he is, with you spending nearly all your free time with him. Including your nights, according to bar gossip.”

 

Liz winces. “Damn, I was hoping to keep it a little more on the down low until I can tell my dad.”

 

“You haven’t told your dad yet?” Surprising, since they’ve had a policy of transparency since Rosa.

 

“I wanted to wait until the weirdness settled down a bit?”

 

“Sweetie, you’re in love with a spaceman. I don’t think things will ever be less weird.”

 

Liz nods, too distracted to refute the ‘love’ part of her statement. “Fair enough. I’ll talk to Max tonight, see about bringing him over for dinner tomorrow.”

 

Maria nods and takes a sip of her milkshake. “Good luck.”

 

“Now that that’s settled, let’s get back to my original topic: Michael.” Liz grins. “You thought I wouldn’t notice you changing the subject but I did.”

 

Maria scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Caught that, did you? What is there to talk about? I’ll adjust, I just need some time.”

 

Liz nods; she truly does understand. “Yeah, but I’m mostly curious about why he brought you into the circle of trust to begin with.” At Maria’s offended scoff she hurries to continue. “Don’t get me wrong, I was dying to tell you, but I thought, since you didn’t have much of a connection with them, it wasn’t vital, and it would probably be safer if you didn’t know. And then Michael’s announcing to Max and Isobel that he’s going to tell you, and practically demanding Max volunteer his healing services for your mom. I didn’t even know you were that good of friends.” Her curiosity is almost overwhelming. “What the hell happened in Texas?”

 

Maria winces and blurts in a whisper, “I slept with him.”

 

Liz drops the fry she’d been sneaking from Maria’s plate. “What?”

 

She repeats herself, slightly louder, after a deep sigh. “I slept with him in Texas, and then I found out he’s in love with someone else, so I offered to be his friend, and things just kind of...evolved from there. We text, we call each other, he finds new ways to help my mom, I give him a shoulder to lean on. It’s weird but it also doesn’t feel weird? It’s been really easy being his friend, actually.”

 

Liz stares blankly for a second before shaking her head. “I have. So many questions right now.”

 

“Ask away,” Maria waves her on.

 

She’s quiet for a minute before she says, “You slept with him, which we will get back to at some point, don’t worry, and then you decided to become friends with him. And it happened a lot more easily than you thought it would.”

 

Maria raises an eyebrow and nods. “Yeah? Where are you going with this?”

 

Liz shakes her head. “I think...My experience with Michael was similar, only without the sex part. I have a thought, give me a second to pull it together.”

 

The door opens behind her, the bell above the door jingling merrily, and Maria says, “Speak of the devil.” Michael stops when he spots her, uncertainty surrounding him. She waves him over and he hesitates a second before taking a deep breath and joining them on Liz’s side of the booth.

 

“Hey, buddy,” Liz says, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “I just found out some very interesting information about Texas.”

 

“Oh, Jesus,” he says, immediately shifting to exit the booth. 

 

“Not so fast,” Liz says, tightening her grip. “It’s not all gossip, though we’ll get to that in a minute. Based on this new information, I’ve got a theory about you guys and I’d like your take on it.”

 

Maria throws her foot up onto the booth next to him to hinder his escape. “Come on, Guerin. For the good of science.”

 

“Fine,” he grits out. “What is this theory you’ve concocted, Liz?”

 

Liz clears her throat and looks around to make sure there’s no one nearby to eavesdrop. “Based on personal experience with multiple subjects, and given this new information from my colleague,” she gestures to Maria, who gives a gracious nod for her acknowledgement, “I believe there may be a biological imperative which causes your species and ours to create stronger, more meaningful, longer-lasting bonds with each other.” She drops her serious tone and says, “What do you think?”

 

He stares at her for a long moment before he says, “You think something in our biology makes us bond more easily with humans, and vice versa?”

 

She shrugs and drags Maria’s milkshake over for a drink. “It’s just a thought. And, it would certainly make it easier for your species to integrate on another planet if the befriended native inhabitants were fiercely protective and would make others more reluctant to hurt or kill you.”

 

He contemplates this as he takes a fry from Maria’s plate. She rolls her eyes and pushes the plate toward the two of them. “I don’t know. It tracks with Max and his relationship with you, and Isobel’s with Noah, but because we’ve been so reluctant to let people in for so long, it’s hard to say.” Liz sips from Maria’s shake, nodding as she considers Michael’s explanation. “My history with Alex makes it difficult to say either way, but many of our difficulties can be attributed to outside circumstances, so I wouldn’t use us as an example.”

 

Maria sucks in a breath, eyes widening, and Liz’s glass slips from her grip as she whips around to stare at Michael. “Your  _ what _ with Alex?” The remains of the milkshake drip down her shirt, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

 

Michael chokes on his fry and coughs out to Maria, “You hadn’t told her?”

 

“No!” she says indignantly. “Of course not! It wasn’t my secret to tell!”

 

“You have a history with Alex? Our best friend Alex? Alex Manes?”

 

Michael breathes deep and lets it out shakily, avoiding direct eye contact with Liz. “Yes, and it’s a history he would prefer be kept secret, so if you could please stop yelling about it in the middle of the diner, that would be great.”

 

Liz narrows her eyes on him and he shifts guiltily under her gaze. “Why doesn’t he want to admit to his history with you? What  _ is _ his history with you, exactly?”

 

“I’m actually kind of curious about that too, Guerin,” Maria admits. 

 

He sighs and runs a hand down his face. “I can’t believe my only two friends are gossipy girls, how did this  _ happen _ ?”

 

“Hey, we talk science a lot, and there was also that extended discussion about Le Guin, so don’t complain about a  _ friendly conversation _ about your personal life, okay?” Liz says, poking a finger into his arm.

 

He looks to Maria for backup, but she shrugs and says, “I’ve gotten very personal with you. It’s only right you should return the favor.”

 

He affects irritation and reluctance, but she can feel his incredulousness, pride, and an underlying sense of belonging. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll tell you.”

 

“Wait!” Liz says, nudging him to scoot out of the booth. “We’re going upstairs. I want popcorn for this.”

 

Maria laughs and he rolls his eyes, but they both follow her upstairs and wait patiently while she pops a bag of popcorn and pulls out a bag of licorice “just in case”. 

 

Once they’re settled in her room, sitting in a circle on her bed with the snacks in the middle, she nods and says, “Okay, go.”

 

He rolls his eyes again and says, “We hung out a little senior year. The first time we kissed was at the museum. We had sex one time. He enlisted and left. That’s it.”

 

Liz, who had been leaning forward and nodding along, stops mid-chew, leans back, and says, “You are terrible at this.”

 

Maria scrunches up her nose and says, “Honey, you need to start earlier and give us a little more. When did you first connect with him? What did you do when you spent time together that made you want to kiss him badly enough to interrupt him at work that day? What were your reactions to the kiss? Et cetera, et cetera.”

 

Michael huffs out a breath and mutters, “Jesus, you want every gory detail?”

 

The women look at each other, tilting their heads in silent conversation, then turn back to him and say, “Yes.”

 

He eyes the window, wondering if he could make it before they catch him. “Don’t even think about it, Guerin. Look,” Maria says, laying a hand on his knee. She can feel the love surging from him, and the heartache. “You don’t have to tell us  _ everything _ , but don’t you at least want to share the good bits?”

 

He considers them for a minute before he swallows hard and nods slowly. “I used to play guitar,” he starts, lifting his left hand to flex his fingers. “I borrowed one from the music room to practice during my free period. Turns out, Alex did not like people borrowing his stuff without permission.” His mouth curves up slowly. “After he was done yelling at me for it, he offered me a place to stay. I, um.” He clears his throat, picks at Liz’s comforter. “I had been living in my truck at the time.” They don’t say anything, and Maria feels his mild rush of gratitude before he nods and continues. “I took him up on the offer to stay in the shed behind his house, and he helped me out. Left me food sometimes, came to visit. We just...hung out together, played guitar sometimes. It was nice to have somewhere to just be, without worrying, and someone to be with.”

 

His nostalgia and happiness and love make her want to cry, but she just nods at him to continue. Liz is staring, hand resting in the bowl of popcorn.

 

“He went for it once, and I freaked. I knew I liked him a lot, but I was scared, I guess. I didn’t want to screw up a good thing with him by complicating things.” He huffs and drags a hand down his face with a groan. “That lasted less than a week. I tracked him down at work, asked if we could talk inside.” He shrugs like that’s the end of the story. 

 

Liz groans. “Come on! It was just getting good!” she says, stuffing some more popcorn into her mouth.

 

“We kissed. It was...epic.” He laughs and his joy permeates the room. “I don’t know what else to say about it.”

 

“I think the word ‘epic’ says a lot on its own,” Liz says, then she grabs a pillow and hides her grin in it.

 

“That’s...insanely adorable, Guerin,” Maria admits, trying her best to suppress her smile, but utterly failing.

 

“Yeah, well.” He’s going for nonchalant, but he can’t quite contain his grin either.

 

Maria soaks in his happiness because he rarely feels so light. There’s so much more to the story and she’s dying to know it, but she can’t bring herself to ask because she knows it will smother that lightness in him.

 

Instead, she settles for helping him shift the focus away from himself. She can feel he’s nearing his limit anyways. “Okay, fair’s fair, Liz. Your turn. Tell us the Tale of Evecho.”

 

Liz bursts into laughter at their couple name but gamely launches into their story.


End file.
